Swoyersville Borough was originally part of Kingston Township, one of the eleven original townships chartered by the Susquehannah Company in 1790. Although the area was pre-dominantly an agricultural community, that all changed with the discovery of anthracite coal in 1825.

Starting in 1882, many local municipalities seceded from Kingston Township and set up their own municipal governments. Swoyersville first sought to incorporate in 1897. The petition for incorporation was presented to the Judges of the Quarter Session on December 7, 1897. However, becauseof court action, the incor-poration was delayed. In 1899, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania sustained the incorporation and Swoyersville Borough was able to be an independent form of municipal government.

The town was named for John Henry Sawyer, a coal mine operator. Mr. Swoyer had developed a reputation for being very fair to his employees and gained the respect of the miners. At first the town was comprised of two villages, Maltby and Brodericks, but due to the development of the mining industry many other small "patches", mainly company homes owned by the coal companies, sprang up and added to the towns’ population.

Currently, Swoyersville Borough is a bedroom community with a few businesses scattered throughout. The Borough has long been shadowed by the coal mine influence but slowly the town is being released from that influence by mine reclamation projects and turning mine scarred land into land suitable for housing.

Facts

Utilities